


The Marauders' Map

by NeonDomino



Series: Fantasy February [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pirate, Alternate Universe - Space, Because that's how Sirius rolls, M/M, Mutiny, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Space Pirates, Tough Remus Lupin, Trying to rob another ship and stealing Remus instead, intergalactic pirates, werewolf attack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 06:01:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29202516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeonDomino/pseuds/NeonDomino
Summary: When Remus' crew start a mutiny, he makes sure they don't get their hands on the treasure map. But when he's saved by the crew of a rival ship, he's a little more willing to share it.
Relationships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Series: Fantasy February [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2144055
Comments: 2
Kudos: 38





	The Marauders' Map

* * *

“So, Captain, finished with the map yet?” Greyback asks, as Remus emerges from his cabin in search of food.

Remus shakes his head, grabbing a bowl of stew and a bit of bread and heading to the table. “I’m still working on the translations,” he admits. “Once I work out which letter of the alphabet each symbol means, I’ll be able to translate that map all the quicker - and any of the other maps left behind by the old pirate Gridelwald.”

“Sounds easy,” Greyback comments.

Remus smiles. “Not as easy as I’d hoped. I think that there’s another code in play layered over the first one. So the letters are the next along in the alphabet, or something to that effect. It’s set me back, but I’m starting to crack it. I think I’ll be done in a few days.”

“People have searched far and wide on the planet for this treasure,” Greyback points out. “Do we even have a starting point?”

“We do,” Remus confirms. “We know for certain that the treasure is here, whereas before now, it was just a rumour. I know you and the men want to get down on the ground and start searching, but overall, it’ll save us time if I can get the map ready first. Maybe you could go into town for a couple of days, take a bit of downtime before we get on with things?”

Greyback grins. “I’ll get the ship restocked and I’ll let the crew know,” he says. He walks from the room, leaving Remus to his lunch.

* * *

Sirius clutches the amulet in his hand as James steers the boat with the other. “I can’t believe we found this,” he mutters mostly to himself. “Able to decode Grindelwald’s maps. If we can just get our hands on one…”  
  
“No one will do business with us,” James complains. “Fuck. We have one of the most amazing artifacts in the galaxy, able to break codes with ease. We can get a big haul if we can just get one of those maps.”  
  
“Not to worry, my lovely Jamesy,” Sirius murmurs. “I’ve heard a rumour that our old friend, the Flying Lupine, has gotten their hands on a map. We just… borrow it for a bit, until we’ve translated and copied it.”

“Really? That’s the amazing plan you said you have?” James grumbles.

“Mate, my last plan got us this.” Sirius examines the amulet again. “Gotta learn how it works though.” He turns it over, looking at the black triangle with a circle and line etched into it. “Sure we’ll work it out when we have a map.”

James nods. “We can’t rush in,” he insists. “We need a plan this time. We got lucky last time, we’re not always going to have this much luck.”

Sirius shrugs. He likes taking risks, especially because he knows they’ll pay off. “We’ve got this,” he insists. “Go to the docks, they might be there and perhaps we’ll get lucky if their crew are on the planet?”

James does as he’s told, his eyes scouring the ships they pass until the Lupine is in sight. He finds a space close to it at the docks and sets the ship down. “Let’s store the amulet away for safe-keeping,” James suggests.

Sirius nods. They have a secret compartment aboard the ship where they keep their most valuable items. He goes into his quarters and stashes his amulet away.

“Let’s go onto land,” he says. “It’s been a while.”

* * *

He’s an hour away from completing the map when he hears it before going into the kitchens. Murmurs about the crew being unhappy. About finally getting their hands on the map and getting rid of him, and Remus is scared. These men were loyal to his dad, but that loyalty hasn’t crossed over.

Still, he moves back down the hall and makes sure he walks even louder. He’s safe as long as the map isn’t translated. With the boards creaking, the crew fall into silence and the topic changes once he enters the room.

“How’s the map coming along, boy?” Greyback calls, as Remus passes him to get the food. He forces himself to walk and get some food.

“I’m really close,” he says. “A little tired, but I want to get the map done quickly. You guys have waited ages, so I’m going to eat in my room and keep cracking the code.”

“Dedicated,” Greyback calls. “Good lad.”

Remus manages a smile and a nod, and he retreats with the stew and bread and heads back to his room.

He pulls out some old parchment and he starts to slowly copy the code and the lines out onto the new paper. They want a map, he’ll give them a map.

But as he reaches the bottom, he starts to change the wording, he changes the drawing. They’ll find themselves on the other side of the planet in their search, and Remus will hopefully have time to flee. He’s not safe once they have the map.

Maybe they’ll wait till they find the treasure before getting rid of him - maybe he can fly away when they get off the ship to follow the map? He’ll abandon them, leave, regroup and come back in the future. Greyback is a smart man, but he knows he’s quite ruthless too. He wouldn’t put it past him to attack.

It hurts. Greyback was his father’s most trusted friend, and Remus looked up to him. Well, until a few minutes before when he realised Greyback is part of the plot to get rid of him. Maybe Remus’ best option is to discard the ship altogether and leave, leaving the fake map on the desk as he does? Then they’ll see the map and decoded message - or the fake ones anyway - and maybe leave.

He loves the ship, he wants this treasure. But staying alive is the priority.

He’s not going to give up the real map to those that have no loyalty.

* * *

They watch the ship for three days, looking at the comings and goings. James can get close, but it seems that every time he’s close enough to get on the ship, eyes turn his way.

It’s unnerving, as though they know he’s there, even though they can’t see him, and something tells him that they’ll know if he got onto the ship to have a snoop around, despite his cloak of invisibility. 

He reports back to the others often. Peter has nothing to offer, having taken up the job of the doctor and finding that he preferred that to actual fighting, and Regulus - who usually helps plan. The cloak has never failed them before, but now they’ll have to work out what to do without it.

But at the end of the third day, there’s a commotion on the other ship, shouting and fighting, and the crowd of them leave, and James and Sirius don’t know how long for.

They take their chance and they head over, trying to avoid anyone seeing them approach. Regulus stays back on the ship, but Peter joins them, having amazing senses and eyesight and the ability to be an excellent look-out. They’re screwed if someone catches them, because there’s just open space around them, so they can’t jump off the ship and get away quickly. But this could be the only chance.

* * *

Remus hopes to see a way from the ship, but he notices that there are always crew on deck, watching. Eyes are on him, he knows this, and there’s no hope but to give up the map. 

He’s made it look as authentic as possible. It’ll take time studying it to realise it’s a great forgery, but Remus hopes that gives him time to get away.

He realises that he can’t buy himself another day because the crew are growing even more impatient, and he’s scared that they’ll take the anger out on him. If he delivers the map now, they might be more lenient.

Greyback snatches it, and suddenly his arms are held by the crew.

“You can join _my_ ship,” Greyback offers with a snarl. “I could keep a pretty little thing like you. So like your father.” And Remus’ disgust must be evident on his face, because the smile on Greyback’s face drops and he rolls up the map and sneers at Remus.

“Have it your way,” he says. “Maybe I’ll give you a reason to take me up on that offer.” As he says that, his features begin to change. His nose lengthens, his teeth get sharper and his eyes go yellow. He shifts slowly into a wolf, and the sound of each bone shifting and breaking and bending hurts Remus’ ears.

The wolf watches him for a moment before teeth clamp harshly around his side, causing him to shout out in horror, and the crew all cheer. They all celebrate.

The wolf shifts back as Remus is thrown to the deck.

“Let him recover in his room,” Greyback orders. “If he lives, he can go into the brig when we get back.”

“Yes Cap’n,” one of the crew shouts. Remus is dragged to the room. He falls to the floor and hears the door lock before he calls unconscious.

He can’t move. Everything hurts and he knows what’s happening to him, as red-hot-agony flows through his body. Blood seeps from the wound onto his clothes, and he’s sure he’s not going to survive this.

But the door clicks open quietly and he manages to open a blearly eye, expecting to see Greyback. 

The man isn’t there. There’s no-one there, but there’s a voice.

“Guys, someone is hurt in here. We can’t just… we can’t leave him, right?”

Two men come into view, though Remus’ vision is blurry. Fingers prod gently at his side. “Werewolf bite,” a voice murmurs.

“We’ll bring him to safety and heal him,” a third voice orders. “I’ll take him myself. You both do what you’ve gotta do.” The voice softens as arms pull him up. “Don’t worry, we’ll keep you alive. Get you to safety, okay?”

“Bring my things,” Remus whispers, swaying, though arms are holding him up. “Bedside table drawer, everything in there. Chest in the corner.” He’s barely conscious. “Anything you can carry, and I’ll reward you somehow. They’ll be gone for hours, I suspect.”

“Yeah. We’ll get that,” the voice says. “I’ve got you, okay.” The last thing Remus hears is the sound of the bedside-table drawer opening.

* * *

They take the injured man back to the ship with the chest and the items from the bedside cabinet, before James and Regulus return to the ship to search for the map. Sirius stays with the injured man and Peter sticks around to help him.

On the other ship, James and Regulus search the entire cabin. Their fingers move over each bit of wood, every groove in the floor, searching for a hidden compartment, but they come up with nothing. Regulus uses a scanner to try and see if it picks up anything electrical that’s hidden in the walls, but nothing comes to his attention.

So they do what they do best - they collect up anything that looks like it’s worth a few gold and Regulus finds some old books that he’s interested in reading, and that may be worth something to a collector. They bring everything back to the ship.

Sirius and Peter on the other hand, have returned to the ship, the man carried between them. Crew members look over at the three men, some call out to see if they need help, but Sirius shakes his head.

He can manage. 

He lays the stranger down on the single bed in the doctor’s office and wonders to himself just why a man their own age is in the Captain’s Quarters. Last he knew, the Captain of the ship was in his late forties, or maybe early fifties. This isn’t captain Lyall Lupin that he’s faced before. All he knows is that this man got hurt on that ship, and then the crew all left. Every one of them. Not a single person on board cares about this man and whether he died on that floor, and that hurts something inside of Sirius. This man needs to be cared about, saved, protected. 

Sirius removes the man’s shirt, wincing as the man whimpers as the shirt is pulled away from the wound on his hip.

“Werewolf bite,” Peter mutters, running a scanner over the wound. “He’s lost a lot of blood already. He’s only hanging on because of the curse that comes with it, but he’s not got long left.” As he talks, he’s already pulling bottles out. “Clean the wound.”

Sirius does as he’s told. Most people address him with more respect, but Peter and James have been with him since day one and Regulus is his brother. They don’t let things like him being captain get in the way.

So, he does as he’s told. He quickly disinfects and cleans it, and Peter bandages it, before bringing up a small gun-line machine to his side and clicking three buttons on it. There’s a hiss and a needle shoots into the man’s skin, causing him to flinch away.

“Stabilised,” Peter says. “Now his head. It doesn’t look too bad, but you can never be sure with head wounds.” Sirius sets about cleaning as Peter checks over the first set of bandages. His head clean, Sirius starts on the man’s face.

As he removes the blood, he realises just how beautiful this man is. Amber eyes flutter open, and Sirius stares.

“Who are you?” a soft voice croaks.

“Your knight in shining armour,” Sirius offers with a wide grin. “You’re safe and alive - we won’t hurt you like they did on the other ship, okay? We’ll drop you somewhere safe.”

“Good,” the stranger says, his eyes slowly closing. “Remus.”

“Remus,” Sirius whispers. Maybe Remus will stay on the ship for a while, because Sirius is captivated already - and wants to get to know the other man.

“Should we put a top on him,” Sirius asks, as Peter steps away and begins to clean his tools.

Peter shakes his head. “Let some air get to his skin, we don’t want him to sweat if we can help it,” he says. “He’ll have to stay in here for—”

The door bursts open and Frank and Ted rush in.

“Doc, Alice is about to have her baby!” 

Peter looks towards Sirius, and Sirius gets it. He needs this bed.

“Ted, come help me bring our new shipmate to… to my room for now, I suppose - whilst he recovers, and Peter can help Frank.”

Ted nods his head and takes one of Remus’ arms and helps bring him through.

* * *

Remus knows it’s not his ship the moment he wakes. He’s scared at first, but he finds the bandages and remembers what happened to him. He’s somewhere else. He’s alive. People wouldn’t patch him up if they were intent on killing him.

It hurts to get up, but he does so anyway, and he heads to the window and looks out. He can see stars, planets, as the ship moves to the other side of the planet. It’s three day’s travel, but Remus wonders if the ship is putting distance between them and the Lupine?

He finds a shirt over a chair and puts it on, wincing as the material brushes against the bandages, and he walks to the door. He steps out onto the dark deck, his gaze moving across the few lit lanterns, before it goes to the sky. This view never gets old.

“Captain, he’s awake,” a man shouts, spotting Remus. “Hey, glad to see you’re alive. Up the stairs, if you’re up to it.”

Remus murmurs a thanks and he turns, slowly going up the stairs, with a wince of pain at each step. As he reaches the top, he notices a handsome man at the helm, eyes on him.

He feels like he’s seen the man before, and remembers the man lifting him off the floor of his former cabin.

“You saved me?” Remus asks.

“Yup. Captain Sirius Black of the Marauders. Look, you probably went through - well, I don’t know - but we’re getting you to safety. When we leave this planet, you tell us where you want to go and we’ll drop you there on our way… wherever, okay?”

“I would rather not,” Remus admits with a sigh. “Got nowhere to go. Just drop me down on the planet so I don’t inconvenience you.”

Sirius snorts. “You’re not an inconvenience,” he says. “How’d you end up there?”

“I was the captain,” Remus admits. “I took over after my father passed away, worked my way up from Cabin Boy. The only person on that ship he trusted aside from me… well, was the first mate. I spent a long time working on Dad’s maps and decoding them, and I think that’s the only reason they left me as captain. I broke the code on one of Grindelwald’s and they took it and Greyback made me an offer I had to refuse.”

“You broke Grindelwald’s codes?” the man’s eyes widen. “Impressive.

“It took me a year to work out the style he used. It’s complicated, but I cracked it,” Remus admits. “So… my dad mentioned this ship. You caused us quite the bit of trouble. He was always cursing about you.”

Sirius laughs. “I bet he was. As are most of the people in the galaxy.” Grey eyes focus on him. “I hope you feel safe on board this ship. You’re welcome to stick around, if you want.”

“Because I’m excellent at maps and codes?” Remus checks.

Sirius grins. “Well, that’s a bonus. You’re also quite nice to look at, and we’re not dicks.”

“You’re not too bad yourself,” Remus admits, his gaze moving down the man. His style is based more around the pirates in the old stories and Remus likes the look. “Do I call you captain? And where should I sleep?”

“If you’re joining the crew, that’s Captain on Deck but you can call me what you want if we find ourselves alone,” Sirius says with a wink. “And as for a bed…” his gaze moves over Remus again. “You’re welcome to stay in mine if you’d like.”

Remus grins. Now, this is an offer he’d like to take up. “It depends. Fancy letting me steer for a bit?”

“Sure. I can teach you.” Sirius beckons him over, his arms wrapping around Remus as he does so, one each side on the wheel. “I might be coming on a little strong, but I’m interested in you. If you say the word, I’ll leave you the fuck alone - your stay on this ship has no conditions, you don’t owe me anything. Only do this if you fancy me back.”

“Are you implying that there are people who don’t look at you and find you attractive?” Remus laughs, and Sirius shifts so his whole body is lined up against Remus’.

“Here’s how you steer,” he murmurs, his lips inches from Remus’ ear.

“I did steer my own ship,” Remus points out.

Sirius laughs softly. “Humour me,” he asks softly, and Remus can only nod.

“What time does your shift finish?”

“About an hour. Tired? Made your mind up where you’re sleeping?”

“I’m used to finer things, so the cabin it is. Any chance you picked up any of my stuff?”

“We took the chest, the stuff you asked for and my brother found some books. He’s brought them to his room for a read, but I can get them back.”

“No rush,” Remus insists.

* * *

“So… heard some noises from the captain’s room last night,” James teases. “Had fun?”

Sirius nods, a dreamy smile coming over his face. “We didn’t go too far since he’s hurt, but James, I’m in love.”

The door opens a moment after he speaks.

Peter and James look at each other. “Hey Remus, it’s a bit of a private meeting,” James says politely. “Sirius—”

“I’m not going to beat around the bush,” Remus says. “I’m used to being captain, but I’m not going to try and take over here. I may not have been a great captain, but I’m damn good with maps, reading and decoding them. I’m knowledgeable on ancient artefacts too. I want a seat at whatever table this is, I’m not going to take a place on the ship as the Captain’s…”

“Booty?” Peter offers helpfully. “We have Regulus who is quite the history buff. You’ll have to work your way up or have more to offer,” he tells Remus.

Remus’ lips twist up. “How about a rare map to something amazing? You give me my seat and I’ll tell you how to find it?”

There’s a long pause. “You have the Grindelwald map?” James says urgently. “This changes a lot.”

“I told you he’s brilliant,” Sirius says fondly. “Love, you’ve got your seat. Tell us what you know.”

Remus pulls up his trouser leg. A small map if folded discreetly, strapped to his leg. “I gave them a fake map,” he says. “I decoded the entire message so should be able to navigate through traps and doors. We just have to work the map out.”

Sirius looks at the others, and they both nod in agreement, so he goes to the cabinet and pulls out a bottle of rum. He pours four glasses and sets it down.

“Welcome to the Marauder, Moony,” he says.

“Moony?” Remus asks. “Is this because…” he gestures towards the bite.

“Pretty much. Tradition. You’ve got to have a nickname to be a Marauder,” James says. “Ancient artefacts… perhaps you’ll know how to use something we recently acquired? Regulus has been studying it but to no avail.” He reaches for the amulet under his shirt and pulls it off, handing it over.

Remus reaches out. “Grindelwald’s amulet,” he whispers. His fingers move over the crack down the centre, before he twists the circle, prising the crack apart.

“Careful,” James insists, but Remus ignores him. The circle opens and Remus opens the map out. He’s scared at trusting more people after his recent betrayal, but he has a good feeling about people who’d risk themselves to save him without even knowing who he was, and without knowing about the map.

Maybe he’s thinking with his heart rather than his head, but he’s choosing to take that risk.

He places the amulet down, and the magical item shows lines that the map doesn’t reveal. Sirius’ arms wrap around him and Sirius places a kiss to his shoulder blade. “Beautiful and smart,” he murmurs. “Let’s go get that treasure, my love, so I can buy you lots of nice things. Do we have to worry about your old crew finding it?”

Remus laughs. “Of course not. They have a fake map. If I remember my history correctly, they’ll be finding themselves in the most deadly swamp.”

James holds his hand out. “Can I?”

Remus nods, handing it over.

“James is an expert on navigation,” he says softly. “Peter is our Doctor. Now we have the map, they’ll be able to study it, so they don’t need us. How about I bring you back to _our_ room and we celebrate?”

Remus bites his lip and nods. “Will you wear the captain’s hat?” he asks.

“Only if you wear it next time.”

* * *


End file.
